Vacaville man acquitted on marijuana dispensary charges

A Solano County Superior Court jury has acquitted a Vacaville man of charges that he operated an illegal marijuana dispensary.

The seven-man, five-woman jury returned its verdict this afternoon, clearing 32-year-old Flash Gardon of charges that he was operating a place for the purpose of unlawfully selling or giving away a controlled substance and possession of marijuana for sale. The case stemed from a February 2010 police raid on North Bay Alternative Healing II, an alleged marijuana dispensary at 537 Merchant St.

The verdict comes after a three-day trial held last week that wrapped up Friday with closing arguments from attorneys that offered divergent views on what constitutes the legal operation of a dispensary and whether the alleged dispensary was a money-making venture or a collective set up to afford medical cannabis users a safe place to secure their "medicine."

Jurors were tasked with deciphering the hazy law surrounding medical marijuana patients and primary caregivers who associate collectively or cooperatively to cultivate and dispense marijuana for medical purposes.

Prosecutors argued that North Bay Alternative Healing II was run by Gordon to turn a profit, while his defense attorney contended the operation qualified as a collective and took the necessary steps to comply with state law and a set of guidelines issued in 2008 by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown concerning medical marijuana.

For more detail, see Tuesday's print and online editions of The Reporter.